The Intergalactic Adventures of Spiderman
by hannahsoapy
Summary: (and an Increasingly Irritated God of Mischief) Three months after Thanos's defeat, Loki finally pays Peter a visit. He brings a spaceship, and an invitation.
1. The Adventures Begin

A/N: If you haven't read my story 'Light Years From Home', I highly recommend reading it before you read this, but you don't _have_ to. Basically, all you need to know is that Thanos failed to strangle Loki, and Peter failed to hang on to the donut-spaceship. They met, had a space adventure, became friends, and then saved the universe. Now you're all caught up :)

* * *

After the 'Infinity War', which was what the world had ended up calling it, things were pretty crazy for a while. The Accords got drastically rewritten into something everyone could agree on, because Thanos had made the world very aware of how much they needed superheroes and vigilantes free to protect it.

However, things were also crazy because half the population had vanished for exactly thirteen and a half minutes. There had been some huge prison break-outs, and some major supervillains had escaped. Peter made some new arch-nemeses (because he totally needed more of those). It was a very busy summer, to say the least. It wasn't until about three months later, when school was nearly about to start, that everything calmed down. (Peter wasn't sure how he would've survived if he'd had school on top of it all.)

It was Friday, at the end of the first week of school, and he had Ned and MJ over. MJ had claimed that she needed to keep an eye on 'you losers', because slacking off at the beginning of the year would get them behind in classes, and she needed a sharp academic decathlon team, but Peter was pretty sure she just meant that they were her friends.

They were in his room, and they'd done the next two weeks homework in about an hour, so Ned and Peter had broken open the Lego Starship Enterprise, and MJ was reading a book, when Peter noticed something odd.

The building was vibrating. It was subtle, and his friends didn't notice, but he frowned, with a glance out his open window, and wondered if he should go check it out.

Before he could decide, it got stronger.

"Do you feel that?" MJ said.

"Yeah," Ned shot a nervous glance at him. Peter looked back, just as nervous, because he didn't know what to do. MJ didn't know-

"Aren't you going to go check it out, Spiderman?"

Peter and Ned stared at her, mouths agape.

"What? I'm observant," she shrugged. "And neither of you are very subtle."

Peter thought he should probably be offended, but he wasn't at all.

"Oh man," Ned was saying enthusiastically, "we need to have a name now. We're a team, we should have a name, like Team Spidey! No, no-Spidey Squad!"

"I refuse to be a part of anything with 'squad' in its title," MJ said dryly. Peter clapped Ned on the back.

"Keep working on it, Ned."

Peter abruptly realized the shaking had stopped. MJ was looking at him expectantly again.

"I don't know, my Spidey sense isn't- ," he cut himself off as his super-hearing heard something from the roof.

"Who're we picking up?" It was a woman.

"A friend," said a smooth, very familiar voice.

Peter turned to his friends with a grin.

"Wanna meet the god of mischief?"

Ned and MJ took literally zero convincing to go on the roof with him. They very willingly followed him up the fire escape. He pretty much sprinted up the steps himself in his eagerness.

And, sure enough, there was the Commodore, parked on his roof.

"Loki!" Peter cried, spotting him standing with two people that he didn't recognize. One girl was engrossed in scribbling something on a notepad, and the other was wearing a distinctive red beanie.

"Little Spider," Loki smiled, and beanie-girl gasped.

"No way," she said excitedly. "Your friend is Spiderman? Awesome!"

"Hi," said Peter, deciding that if they were with Loki they could probably be trusted. "I'm Peter. Sometimes I crawl on ceilings and swing from skyscrapers."

Peter heard Ned and MJ clambering up from the fire escape behind him.

"And these are your friends? Your… web support?" She asked with a wink.

"Huh," said MJ, coming up beside him. "Actually, that's not bad."

" _Web Support_ ," Ned gasped. He was still trying to catch his breath from the climb, but it was very clear he liked the name.

"Hi, I'm Darcy," said beanie-girl with a cheerful wave. "And this is Jane-," she nudged the lady next to her, "-say hi Jane."

"Huh? Oh, hello," Jane said, and promptly went back to scribbling. Something about her was nagging at Peter's brain, but he couldn't think what.

Loki was frowning at his friends, and Peter hoped it hadn't been a bad idea to bring them up here.

"Hi, I'm Ned," said Ned, looking like it was the best day of his life.

"MJ," said MJ, and then she glanced at Loki. "And you are?"

"Loki, Prince of Asgard and Jotunheim, god of mischief and lies," Loki said, sounding almost bored.

MJ met Loki's challenging gaze with her own impassive stare. Peter had no clue what MJ was playing at, but the suspense was seriously going to kill him. It was like in the new Star Wars movie when Rey and Kylo battled with just the Force. Peter expected the invisible line between their eyes to spontaneously combust at any moment.

Even Jane had sensed the tension, forcing her attention from her scribbles.

Loki finally broke it off, sliding his eyes over to meet Peter's.

"Your friends can come, too," he said.

"Uh, sorry, Loki, sir," Ned said, awkwardly. "Where are we going?"

"New Asgard, of course," said Jane, like it should have been obvious. Darcy looked like she was trying not to laugh, next to her.

"Dude," said Ned, and Peter literally could not agree more. Dude.

"How're we getting there?" Peter asked. "I mean, it's the weekend, but I've got school on Monday."

Loki smirked. "That won't be a problem, little Spider," he said, and he lifted his hand, revealing the Space Stone, held between two of his fingers.

* * *

Reviews are love!

If you've got any adventure ideas for Loki and Peter, I am taking suggestions! :)


	2. New Asgard

A/N: Phew! This took a while to get done! Unfortunately, school is a pretty big thing for me right now. I'm all about higher education, guys, but sometimes it's sooooo much work! I'm not going to ditch this, though, don't worry. Thanks for all your reviews, I appreciate the love and the ideas!

sonicxjones-your review inspired the second half of this chapter! Hope you like it!

* * *

They all boarded the Commodore, Ned spinning around to take it all in with huge eyes. MJ gave it a cursory sweep, and then plunked herself down on one of the benches.

"What's all this stuff?" Peter asked, peering in the room at the back. It was full of taped up cardboard boxes. A machine of some sort was sitting on the floor, making a steady series of beeps.

"Those are my instruments!" Jane called out frantically, her attention torn from her notepad again.

"Jane, he's not messing with them, it's cool," Darcy twirled around in the co-pilot's chair. "Sorry, she's a little tetchy about her machines."

Peter suddenly realized who Jane was.

"You're _Dr. Jane Foster_ ," he said.

"Thor's girlfriend?" Ned gasped.

"Actually, I think it's fiancée," MJ nodded at the sparkly rock on Dr. Foster's left hand.

"Um, yes," Dr. Foster said, with an awkward laugh.

"Oh my god, are we going to an Asgardian wedding?" Ned cried. "I can't believe my life right now!"

Dr. Foster blushed and Darcy started giggling. Loki just smirked at them all, and turned the pilot's chair to face front.

"Hold on tight," he said.

The trip was very short, with the Space Stone transporting them. Loki piloted the Commodore out of New York, waiting until they were over the ocean before activating the Stone. There were a few seconds where they were suspended in a blue-black cloud, the ship rocking a little, just like airplane turbulence, and then they were soaring above the golden city of New Asgard.

Loki had used the Infinity Stones to create Asgard a brand-new planet to live on. Well, not exactly brand-new, it was more like terraforming, since they'd just transformed a planet in a potentially habitable zone into an actually habitable one. It was really impressive, especially since it had only been a few months since they'd defeated Thanos, but Peter supposed three Infinity Stones made rebuilding pretty easy.

Apparently, it was almost identical to the previous Asgard. Even down to the bilgesnipes roaming the forest.

Dr. Foster, who'd been muttering and poking at the machine on the floor, perked up and ran out of the ship when Thor's booming voice came in the open door.

Peter, Ned, and MJ exited slowly, behind Loki and Darcy.

"Ah, it is my Lightning-Sister!" Thor cried, beaming at Darcy. She laughed.

"Good to see you too, big guy."

Peter wondered what she'd done to gain the title of 'Lightning-Sister' from the literal god of thunder. Ned and MJ, too, were looking at her curiously.

"You have brought the Man of Spiders, as well, Loki!" Thor said, turning to him. "And who are your friends?"

"Oh, uh, you can just call me Peter, Thor," Peter said, because Ned was next to him mouthing 'Man of Spiders', and MJ was sniggering. "This is Ned, and MJ."

"Well met, friends of Peter! I am pleased that you will attend the wedding of my Lady Jane and I. Now, come! We shall show you the city!"

'We' turned out not to be the royal pronoun, as Volstagg, Fandral, Lady Sif, and Valkyrie joined them moments later. MJ immediately drew Sif into a discussion about feminism. Valkyrie scoffed and chugged from her never-empty amber bottle, but Peter was surprised to see that she was actually listening to what MJ had to say.

Thor strode with Dr. Foster in front of them, greeting his citizens, with whom he seemed to be extremely popular. It also appeared that they were all invited to the wedding, too. Peter thought that was odd, but then he remembered that not only was Thor the king, Asgard had lost a lot of people to Thanos, and Thor probably knew every one of his citizens.

Peter was drawn from those somber thoughts when Ned piped up.

"Hey, Darcy, why did Thor call you his 'Lightning Sister'?"

"We are most curious, as well," Fandral said, Volstagg nodding along, "since Thor has not mentioned the reason to me, either."

"Oh, you'll like this," she said, sharing a smirk with Loki. "I tased him."

The Asgardians frowned, unfamiliar with the term, but Peter and Ned were both amazed.

"You _tased_ him?" Peter asked, sure he must have misheard. "And what, it tickled him a little?"

"Nope," laughed Darcy. "He was de-godified at the time; went down like a sack of potatoes."

"I am not sure I understand," Volstagg said. "You… you felled our king?"

"Yup."

Fandral and Volstagg stared at her, clearly reevaluating their first impression. Loki looked incredibly pleased.

"Yes," Loki called ahead, "the mighty Thor, brought down by a Midgardian maiden with a little lightning box!"

Thor turned around, his face very red.

"The Lady Darcy is a very formidable warrior," Thor said, attempting to save his dignity. He might have succeeded, too, but Valkyrie burst into drunken laughter, pointing at him and laughing so hard she was bent over double. The whole party followed suit, even Thor, after a minute.

They soon headed to the palace, where there was a feast waiting for them in the hall. The food was delicious, and seemed to just keep appearing in front of them. Volstagg ate half an entire boar himself, while Ned and Peter watched in amazement.

Dinner was a very long event, as the warriors took turns telling them stories of their exploits. Peter would have known they were exaggerating even if Loki hadn't been leaning over every time to interject wry comments about what really happened.

By the time it was over, it was late, and Peter stumbled sleepily after the servant showing them to their rooms, and collapsed gratefully in the covers.

* * *

Peter woke up, taking great gulping breaths. He scrabbled his way out of bed, landing awkwardly on the floor, and staggered to his feet.

It had been a while since he'd dreamt of being in the Stone.

He wandered out of his room, looking for somewhere that wasn't silent. The silence was too much like his nightmare. He found the garden, and followed the sound of splashing to a fountain.

Peter laid down on the wide bench, relaxing to the comforting noise. Above him, he watched the twin moons rising in the night sky. His mind was wide awake, refusing to slow down.

Quiet footsteps brought his attention back to the entrance of the garden.

"Little Spider," Loki called softly. "Could you not sleep?"

Peter shook his head.

"Come," Loki said, beckoning. "I want you to meet someone."

Peter jumped up, curious, and walked quickly to catch up to him.

"Who?"

"Someone very special to me."

That didn't answer his question, really, but Peter was content to let it be a surprise. They left the palace, and Loki headed toward a door set in a long, low building. The smell, when Loki opened the door, was very distinctive. They were in a stable. Most of the horses were asleep, not even waking to the noise of the door swinging shut behind them. One horse threw his head up and glared at them nastily.

"Peace, Gullfaxi," Loki said, and the horse chuffed a little, but ducked his head back down.

"That is Thor's horse," Loki told him. "He doesn't much like me."

"No kidding," said Peter.

Loki stopped in front of the stall door at the very end of the row, setting his hand on the latch.

"This is Sleipnir," he said, and threw open the door.

The horse inside was amazing. He had _eight_ legs, and his coat and mane were silvery-grey, seeming to shimmer, even in the dim light of the stable. He raised his head to look at them, and Peter was startled by the intelligence in the sharp silver eyes.

"Hi," Peter said nervously. Sleipnir snorted, and shook his head at Loki.

"This is Peter, Sleipnir," Loki told him, rubbing the horse's nose. Sleipnir snorted again, and turned back to Peter.

Peter held very, very still as the horse came closer. Sleipnir sniffed at him, and then _licked_ his forehead.

"He likes you," Loki said encouragingly.

"Oh, ok," Peter stammered. Sleipnir nibbled his hair, and he giggled, reaching up to push away the horse's nose.

"Would you like to go for a ride?"

"I-what? But I've never ridden a horse," Peter protested, not willing to admit that he was a little bit afraid of it, too.

"Sleipnir is no ordinary horse," said Loki, and Sleipnir bucked his head in agreement.

"Okay," Peter finally said. It probably was the safest way to learn how to ride, with a very intelligent horse, and a seidr-master looking out for him.

Sleipnir knelt with his first four legs, so that Peter could easily climb on his back. Loki held open one of the big stable doors, and Sleipnir trotted out into the wide field behind.

Peter grasped a handful of the silvery mane nervously as they picked up speed, but Sleipnir moved so smoothly, it was no work at all to stay on his back. He thought it was probably because he had eight legs that it felt like the horse was gliding through air rather than cantering on land. Peter tipped his head back, enjoying the wind breezing through his hair.

Eventually, Peter started feeling the time of night. His eyes slid slowly shut, despite his attempts to keep them open. He leaned forward, burrowing his head in Sleipnir's mane. It was so soft…

He didn't feel Sleipnir slowing down, or Loki gently sliding him off the horse's back, and taking him back to his bed.

He slept soundly until morning.

* * *

Important note: Sleipnir's not Loki's child in this fic. Sorry. There _is_ a cute story to their relationship, but you'll have to wait to hear it. Peter's not all read up on Norse mythology, so he didn't ask about it.


	3. An Asgardian Wedding

A/N: Well, grad school is great guys, but I have so little free time! I have persevered, however, and managed to write another chapter!

For this chapter, I did a bunch of research on old Norse and Scandinavian weddings. So if you have any questions about what I did or didn't include, feel free to ask me! It was really cool to learn about, and I wished I could've written more about it, but this chapter was getting pretty long.

I got a review that made me realize I should probably clarify something, so I'm posting part of the response I gave here: Loki brought back only those killed by the Soul Stone. I'm just conveniently ignoring the way the Warriors Three were casually killed off in the first five minutes of Ragnarok, because I hated it.

I am also thinking about having a little Darcy/Loki mixed in here and would love to hear your thoughts in a review! If people are in favor, I may or may not have already written the start of a little something...

* * *

Peter had only been to two weddings before.

The first wedding he'd been in, he didn't really remember. He'd been five and a half (the half had been important) and was the flower-boy/ring-bearer for Aunt May and Uncle Ben's wedding. He only had vague impressions of that one, although Aunt May loved to drag the pictures out and tease him about how cute he was.

"And still are, you little baby-face," she always said, and tried to pinch his cheeks.

The last one had been Aunt May's cousin's wedding, and it had been really long, and boring. They'd written their own page and a half long vows to each other, and also done a bunch of other 'symbolic' things like pouring sand into a jar together, and it had taken _hours_.

Peter remembered just wanting to get to the part where there was food, and cake, but even after the ceremony was over, it was another hour until the reception could start because there were a million pictures the wedding party had to take first. And the food didn't even turn out to be that good, although the cake was alright.

So, Peter was expecting to be a little bored.

It turned out Asgardian weddings were nothing like Midgard ones.

In the morning, they were led to a clearing not far from the palace. The rest of Asgard was also there, seated on long wooden benches, although Peter still didn't see Loki, and they took their seats where they were directed, right in front of a low dais.

"Kid?" Peter jumped. There, sitting on the bench next to Ned, was Mr. Stark.

"Uh, hey, um, Mr. Stark. I didn't know you'd be here," Peter said awkwardly. All the rest of the original Avengers, and the Guardians were there, too, on the other side of Mr. Stark, plus Dr. Strange, king Panther-dude, the Falcon, some guy in a suit, and a rumpled old man. He should've guessed they'd all be here, though, when it was Thor getting married.

"Oh, no no no. You're answering my questions first. When, and how, did you and the tagalongs get here? Does your aunt know you're here? And where did you get those new threads? Seriously, I'm jealous," Mr. Stark said, peering over his orange-tinted sunglasses at him.

Unlike the Avengers, Peter, Ned and MJ were dressed pretty much exactly like the rest of the assembled Asgardians. They'd woken up that morning to find clothes laid out for them - tunics with fancy gold embroidery for Peter and Ned, and a long golden dress for MJ. Peter had sensed a theme.

(The dress was also reminding Peter that MJ was a girl. A really smart, attractive, probably-out-of-his-league girl. He was trying not to think about it.)

Peter knew Mr. Stark wouldn't like the answers to his other questions much. Mr. Stark still really didn't like Loki, even though he'd saved the universe. And Peter had managed to text Aunt May where he was going before they'd gone through the Space Stone's portal, but he hadn't received a response back. (He didn't think their cell carrier provided intergalactic coverage.)

Peter hesitated, and then he was saved by Loki's appearance. He popped out of nowhere in front of them, on the dais, holding a huge horn. The Asgardians all grew quiet. Mr. Stark gave him a 'we are definitely talking about this later' look.

Loki blew on the horn, and it called out a long, bright, clear note. The Asgardians all started peering around expectantly, Peter, Ned, and MJ with them. Peter heard the hoof-beats before anyone else, approaching from both sides.

They emerged from the tree-line at the same time, Thor leading the Warriors Three from one side, and Dr. Foster with Darcy, Lady Sif, and Valkyrie from the other. They all slowed as they approached, and then dismounted and joined Loki on the dais. Thor and Dr. Foster were both dressed plainly, but Dr. Foster had an elaborate, sparkly, silver diadem resting on her head. It must have been significant, because Peter could hear some murmurs from the crowd when they saw it.

Loki presided over the ceremony, which involved exchanging _actual_ swords, along with their vows and rings. Finally, they clasped hands over the hilt of the sword Dr. Foster presented to Thor, Loki stretched his hand out over it, and a green tendril of seidr wrapped around their arms and hands. It flashed silver, and then sunk into their skin.

Thor and Dr. Foster didn't look any different to Peter, but the seidr must have done something, because they both gasped at the same time, and then surged forward into a very intense kiss. The Asgardians all clapped and threw handfuls of flower petals at them. Thor and Dr. Foster broke away from each other after a moment, smiling.

Loki clapped his hands, and once he had the attention of everyone assembled, he said something in what must have been Asgardian.

The crowd cheered, and then all at once turned, leapt over the benches, and started running back toward the palace. Peter, Ned, and MJ looked at each other in confusion. The Avengers hadn't moved either, though, so at least they weren't alone.

"Run, friends!" Thor yelled at them from the dais.

"Might as well," MJ shrugged, taking off running, too. Peter and Ned scrambled to follow her, and behind him, he heard Mr. Stark say, "Do we _have_ to run back?"

Peter could've run faster, but he slowed down, keeping pace with Ned and MJ. He wasn't really sure what his top running speed was. As Spiderman, he didn't usually run. Webs were much faster when he was trying to get around skyscrapers and go over crowds of people.

The sound of rapid footsteps caused him to look back to see Captain America racing toward them, followed by a shout of, "Not cool, man!" from the Falcon.

"Dude," Ned panted. "You think you're faster than Captain America?"

Peter grinned. "Only one way to find out."

The Captain was just drawing even with them, and Peter sped up. Captain America looked over at him in surprise, and then he smiled, winked, and pulled ahead. Oh, it was so on, Peter thought, narrowing his eyes at the Captain's back.

They were starting to pass the Asgardians, and their race became harder, since they had to weave in between people, but Peter managed to catch up to him, just as they caught sight of the palace doors.

Their belated start meant they weren't the first ones to reach them, and they could see that the Asgardians that had beat them there were crowded around outside them, with a path cleared down the middle.

Peter snuck a look at Captain America. He wasn't slowing down, so Peter gritted his teeth, and put on a burst of speed. They sped down the cleared path, racing for the doors.

Their hands smacked the wood simultaneously.

"Good race, kid," Captain America said, between gasping great gulps of air. Peter, also trying to catch his breath, gave him a shaky thumbs up.

"We should have a proper race sometime," Captain America was starting to say, but then loud, pounding hoofbeats interrupted him. Dr. Foster and Thor were racing in, on horseback.

Thor, riding Gullfaxi, sped in just ahead of Dr. Foster, and skidded to a stop in front of the doors, blocking the way. They both dismounted, and Thor led Dr. Foster across the threshold to the cheers of the crowd, who followed them inside.

Inside, there were lots of long tables set up, and half the crowd seemed to be bringing everyone else drinks. Peter, somehow managed to locate Ned and MJ again, and they made their way to the central table, where Loki was beckoning them to take their seats.

There was more ceremonial stuff – Thor plunged his sword into the table, all the way to the hilt, and then he and Dr. Foster (or was it Foster-Odinson now?) shared a drink from a huge, fancy golden goblet.

Then there was a feast. And when Peter said feast, he meant a _feast_. There was barely space on the table for their plates, there were so many platters of various dishes. Asgardians could really eat, too. Volstagg was probably the most impressive, but they all ate a lot. Peter tried not to overeat, but there were so many different things he wanted to try, he ended up stuffed silly.

There were a lot of toasts, and it seemed like anyone was allowed to stand up and tell ridiculous stories about some quest or other, or cleverly insult someone. Loki was particularly good at that last one, and the Asgardians appeared to enjoy hearing him do it, if the number of times he was called out was any indication.

By the time the dancing broke out (and wrestling, weirdly), it was early afternoon, and Peter was feeling like he could take a nap.

"There is one thing more, if you wish to go and observe it," Loki leaned over to tell them, halting Peter's eyelids as they threatened to droop shut completely.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Thor is giving Queen Jane the Idunn-fruit," Loki said, as if that explained everything.

"Wait, you mean like the golden apples?" MJ asked, beside him. It must be some Norse myth thing, Peter figured.

Loki scoffed. "Not exactly, but if it helps, then yes."

"That… actually confused me more," Peter said.

"The Idunn-fruit," Loki began, with a long-suffering sigh, "grows from the Idunn trees, and bestows vitality and long life akin to that of an Aesir."

"Golden apples," muttered MJ, rebelliously.

"They are also gold, and resemble the Midgardian apple, in appearance," Loki finished, with a pointed glance at MJ. "But they are not related in any way."

"So, what, she just eats it, and then, boom, she's Asgardian?" Ned asked.

Loki blinked at him. "That is… not totally inaccurate," he said slowly.

"Cool," Ned and Peter said, in near unison. MJ rolled her eyes at them, but she was smiling (a little bit).

"When is this thing happening?" She asked Loki. He looked meaningfully towards the head of the table, where Thor was helping Dr. Foster to her feet.

"Now."

* * *

Phew. I promise I'll try not to let it be so long before I update again!


	4. The Idunn Trees

A/N: Wow, an update less than a month after the last one? It's a miracle, I know.

Very exciting things happen in this chapter! We're done sight-seeing in Asgard; it's time for the real plot. I have to admit, I didn't think it would take more than four chapters for this adventure, but I can never really predict what my characters want to do.

Also, once this little adventure is over, I will be posting a sort of prequel chapter, of Loki picking up Darcy and Jane right before he went to get Peter. I am planning on a Tasertricks pairing here, but the main focus will still be Loki and Peter's friendship and their adventures.

* * *

The trees were beautiful. There were three of them, planted close to each other, and they had slender silver trunks and long, graceful branches. The leaves were all shimmering gold, and scattered throughout were golden flowers, too, that fluttered and shimmered in the slight breeze that wafted through the garden.

" _Mellyrn_ ," MJ said reverently, when she saw them.

"A what now?" Peter asked. MJ stared at them, completely scandalized.

"The trees that grow in Lothlorien? Lord of the Rings?"

"I don't remember them looking like that in the movie," said Ned, and Peter nodded in agreement.

"Ugh," said MJ, smacking her own forehead with her hand. "Never mind."

It was just as well that they had stopped talking; the group had all stopped by the trees. The branches in the middle, Peter could see now, were intertwined closely, and in the very center, a single golden apple hung.

"There's only one?" Peter asked Loki, who had stayed next to them.

"Yes," Loki said. "The apple takes a decade to grow, and the trees will only grow one at a time."

"Huh," said Peter. That was kinda weird, but they were magic Asgardian trees, after all.

They all watched as Dr. Foster stepped forward by herself to pluck the apple from the trees. Peter, to his alarm, felt his Spidey sense going off. It was a low buzz at first, but then as she got closer to the apple, and reached up with one hand to take it, his senses spiked.

Without thinking, Peter darted through the assembled people, and rushed for Dr. Foster. She hadn't seen him pushing through the crowd and was nearly touching the apple when he broke past Thor and the Warriors Three.

"Don't!" Peter shouted, still charging forward, and Dr. Foster paused when she heard him, but it was too late. Her finger brushed the apple, just as Peter grabbed her around the waist, and then a cascade of golden leaves fell around them.

When the leaves had cleared, they were gone.

* * *

There was a moment, as the leaves were clearing, that Loki convinced himself he was seeing things.

The Little Spider wasn't gone – no, he couldn't be. But the leaves fell to the ground, and the verdict was the same: Peter and Jane were gone.

"Jane!" Thor cried, running around beneath the trees frantically. Peter's two friends looked slightly less concerned at his disappearance, and in fact, the girl was merely shaking her head and muttering angrily about 'idiot teenager boys'. Stark was trying to scan the trees with a gauntlet that had formed around his hand.

"Loki!" Thor shouted, running up to him. "You can find her, can't you? There are workings you can cast, yes?"

Loki thought quickly. "Maybe," he admitted. Thor took that as a yes and threw his arms around him tightly.

"Thor! Thor, get off," Loki protested. "When I said maybe, I meant it!"

Thor pulled back, confusion on his face, and also on the select few of the wedding party that had come out with them and were now standing silently, watching their exchange.

"The Idunn trees are semi-sentient," Loki explained. "I suspect that if they have transported Jane and Peter somewhere that they do not wish us to find, we will not find them."

"So, what, you expect us to sit around and wait for these trees to bring them back?" It was Stark that had spoken, his eyes flashing with steely anger. Loki wanted to say yes, because any other course of action would most likely be fruitless, but he made the mistake of glancing at Thor, who was looking at him pleadingly, eyes filling with tears.

"No," Loki sighed in resignation. "There _is_ something I can do now."

Thor lit up with hopefulness. "Yes? What is it, brother? What do you require? I will have it brought immediately."

Loki waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing at all, Thor. I will merely be communing with the trees."

Stark, and most of the other guests standing around, were still eyeing him distrustfully, but he could see some measure of respect there, as he strode to the center of the trees, and sat, cross-legged, on the leaf-strewn ground.

"Do not disturb me," Loki warned them, since they all looked likely to do so if they thought he was taking too long. They all backed off a step, except for Thor, who seemed to have appointed himself as his guard. Loki took a deep breath to center himself, and then he closed his eyes, and reached outwards with his seidr.

It was very difficult to speak with semi-sentient beings. Words could not be used when speaking to them, as they did not exactly understand or use language in the same way. Instead, communication was entirely based in imagery and feelings, making it difficult to frame any questions, and tricky to interpret any answers.

The Idunn trees were no different.

When he had used the remaining Infinity stones to build New Asgard, he had not wished to risk meddling in things he did not understand. The Idunn trees, therefore, were fundamentally exactly the same as they had been in Asgard. He had spoken with those trees before, when he was first learning to 'speak' with his seidr. Loki distinctly remembered the condescending amusement coming from them at his fumbling attempt.

These trees, however, did not know him. They were young and new, and he had gotten much better at weaving stories with his seidr, and when he finally opened his eyes again to face his brother and Stark, he felt confident in his interpretation of what the Idunn trees had told him.

"Well?" Stark asked, too impatient to wait on Loki to speak first. He grimaced.

"It is not bad news," Loki hedged. "But they are beyond our reach." Thor's face fell, but Stark's eyes only narrowed.

"Explain."

"The trees test those whom would take an apple," Loki told them. "When they have passed the test, they will be returned."

"Jane will not fail," Thor said confidently, although Loki could tell he was still concerned for his new bride.

"They will pass, I am sure," Loki said. "Now we can only wait."

Nobody seemed particularly happy with that answer, but they all at least accepted it, and settled around in various positions around the Idunn trees to wait.

* * *

"Thought you said we didn't need to worry," said Darcy, seating herself next to him on the edge of the fountain.

It had been several hours, and the sky was now lit with the myriad colors of the setting sun. The strange light made the Idunn trees glow and appear more beautiful than they had in the afternoon. Loki wished he could hate them for it.

"I didn't say that," he muttered at last, in response to Darcy.

"No, you didn't," she said. "You just said they would pass. But you're still worried, aren't you?"

Loki stared at her, and then went back to watching the trees without a word. All was quiet in the garden for long minutes.

"What kind of test is it?"

"One of character," Loki responded, clearing his throat. "The trees test the purity of one's heart."

Darcy snorted. "Well, that'll be no problem for Jane. She's a goody-two-shoes."

"I am unfamiliar with that expression," Loki admitted, "but if any person is truly good in their heart, it is the Little Spider."

"See? They'll be just fine," she said. "Anything your friend can do, mine can do too." She half-sang it, with a little laugh that told Loki it was some kind of joke that he didn't get, but he appreciated the sentiment.

The silence fell again, more companionably now, as they awaited the return of both of their friends.

* * *

*Darcy's sort-of quoting, a few lines from a song in a delightful musical called 'Annie Get Your Gun'. I highly recommend listening to it, but it will get stuck in your head for days!


	5. Trials

A/N: I know, it's been a while. I started clinic recently, and I'm absolutely loving it, but it's also exhausting. Most days the last thing I want to do when I get home is work on this. Anyway, I'm sorry for leaving you all with a bit of a cliffhanger there for so long. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it!

Also, happy belated Canada Day to any Canadians, and happy Fourth of July to any Americans!

* * *

Peter wasn't expecting to land very softly. He'd twisted as he tackled Dr. Foster, hoping to land underneath her so she didn't hit her head or anything, but to his surprise, the ground was soft. He couldn't see anything, though, because Dr. Foster's hair had flown up and covered his face. It smelled nice, but he felt really awkward about it.

"What in the universe just happened?" Dr. Foster asked, accidentally elbowing him as she got up. Peter winced and looked around.

"I have no idea," he said slowly.

They weren't on Asgard anymore, that was for sure. They were on a beach. A very long beach, Peter noticed. He couldn't see the end of it, in either direction. In front of them, the ocean waves gently crashed, and a few seagulls swooped overhead. Behind them, some distance away, scraggly bushes grew, flanked by what appeared to be a forest.

"You don't happen to know where we are, Dr. Foster?" Peter asked hopefully. She shook her head.

"You can call me Jane, Peter," she said. "And no, but I'm pretty sure it's not Earth." She pointed upwards. There were two suns in the sky.

"We're… on Tatooine?" Peter said, puzzled.

"Where's that?" Dr. Foster asked, and Peter was pretty sure this was how MJ had felt earlier about the trees.

"Tatooine! You don't – Star Wars?"

Dr. Foster frowned. "Is that the one with the pointy-eared guy who does the hand thing? I like him."

"I think you mean Spock," Peter told her. "And no, that's Star Trek."

"Aha! I was close, then," she said triumphantly. Peter sighed and decided it would be easier to just let it go.

"Well, Tatooine's a fictional place, and a desert planet," he said. "So I'm pretty sure we're not there."

Dr. Foster (he really didn't think he could call her Jane) hummed thoughtfully.

"Let's head that way," she said, decisively. "I'm not exactly wearing great shoes for beach walking." She lifted a foot, and Peter could see that she only had on thin flats. They probably already had sand in them.

They started walking towards the scrubby bushes, the sand getting coarser and coarser as they got closer to the plant life. Then Peter noticed a rustling noise, and almost at the same time, his Spidey sense tingled. He stopped immediately and flung an arm out to the side to stop Dr. Foster.

"What is it?" She whispered.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "My Spidey sense is just – "

Dr. Foster suddenly shrieked and jumped back. Peter immediately looked down and saw a spider as big as his foot creeping forward from a bush.

"Aren't you Spiderman?" Dr. Foster asked quietly. "Can't you do your spider thing?"

"I can't _talk_ to spiders!" Peter exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down. "I mostly just do whatever a spider can do."

"Okay," Dr. Foster said shakily. "Let's, uh, back away slowly, then?"

They both took careful steps backward, but the spider followed, mimicking their movement. Peter's Spidey sense only kept growing in intensity, and he followed it upwards with his gaze to find that the spider closest to them was not the only one emerging from the bushes, nor was it the biggest. Someone let Aragog loose on this beach, Peter thought.

"Uh, Dr. Foster, how fast can you run?"

"My cardio is of the nonexistent variety, wh – oh." She grabbed Peter's wrist. Hard.

"Yeah," Peter said, thinking frantically. Running was definitely out. What were spiders scared of? Giant snakes that could kill with their eyes, but he didn't really want to run into one of those, either. What else, what else, what else?

A really huge wave crashed hard on the beach behind them.

"Feel like a swim?" Peter asked and felt Dr. Foster stiffen.

"Uh, actually… I can't," she said shakily. "Swim, I mean."

"That's alright, I can," Peter told her.

"I might also be afraid of the ocean," Dr. Foster admitted.

"You're afraid of the ocean?"

"I did my research in New Mexico for a reason," she hissed.

"Well, if you can think of something else, I'm game," Peter said, keeping his eyes on the growing crowd of giant spiders, and wondering if his web-shooters would be effective against them. He hadn't worn his suit to the wedding, unfortunately, but he had clipped the web-shooters on his wrists, as an afterthought.

Dr. Foster laughed nervously. "We don't exactly have better chances out of the ocean, do we?"

"Ah, nope, not looking good here."

"Ocean it is, then," she decided, after only a moment's pause. "If we can make it there."

"On three, jump on my back," Peter told her, and saw a nod out of the corner of his eye. "One… two… three!"

As soon as Dr. Foster was on his back, Peter turned and sprinted toward the water. He could hear the legs of all the spiders as they raced after them, and Dr. Foster's fingers curled tighter in his shirt as they splashed into the ocean waves. He was chest deep before he finally risked a look back, to see the spiders mostly halted by the water's edge, only the biggest of them trying deeper water.

Dr. Foster shivered as a wave moved past. It rose up to Peter's chin, and he narrowly avoided a mouthful of seawater.

"Are you gonna be okay?" He asked her, glancing at the definitely-not-friendly arachnids still watching them from the shore. "We might be here a while."

Dr. Foster just nodded into the back of his neck, tightening her hold again. For someone who said she didn't work out, she had a _really_ strong grip.

"Uh, great," Peter said. "I'm gonna try swimming, yeah?"

Another nod.

Peter started swimming.

* * *

It had been dark for a few hours; Loki had put up lights with his seidr some time ago. Nobody had actually left the garden, but they had scattered somewhat, clustered in little groups within viewing distance of the trees.

Loki had kept a tendril of seidr out to monitor the trees and felt the stirring before it was visible to anyone else. He tried not to make it obvious, but he couldn't help a slight stiffening, and Thor noticed right away.

"Loki," his brother cried, alerting the entire garden. "What is it?"

"Something is happening," Loki said.

"Oh, come on, Prancer, you gotta give us more than that," Stark said with irritation.

"That is all I know at the moment," Loki told the growing crowd around him. "We must watch the trees."

That got everyone's attention off of him, at least.

They didn't have long to wait.

Loki felt the sudden, abrupt spike in seidr, and then the golden leaves that had fallen earlier rose up, drawn back into the trees, and when they cleared, Peter and Jane were there, clothes looking a bit rumpled, but they themselves no worse for the wear. Jane, Loki noticed, held the Idunn-fruit in her hand now.

"Woah," said Peter, looking around. "It's dark."

Thor immediately rushed forward and swept Jane up, and Stark practically tackled Peter. There was a flurry of chatter and hugs to welcome them back, and MJ punched him. The little Spider didn't really seem to mind or seem at all surprised by the reaction. Loki liked her.

"What happened in there? Loki said the trees were testing you," Ned piped up, and everyone quieted a little.

"Yeah," Peter said, glancing at Loki. "I guess? I mean, there was just a lot of weird stuff happening. There were two suns, and acromantula, and –"

"There couldn't have been actual acromantula," MJ said.

Peter shrugged. "That's what they looked like. A whole bunch of them, too. We had to run into the ocean to get away from them, and then we got pulled out really, really far, and there was this fishing boat, and we helped all these guys fish, except their fish were not like how we have fish on Earth, they were _weird_. And then, there were these awesome pirates that – oh, that reminds me! Hey, Thor?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Uh, don't give Dr. Foster –"

"It's Jane, Peter," Jane said.

"… um, right. Uh, don't give her anything sharp. Like, definitely hide that sword from her."

Thor's concerned attention was immediately on his new wife, who smiled up at him innocently.

"It's fine now," she protested. "Whatever happened there didn't stick when we came back here."

"But you were hurt?" Thor persisted, turning his gaze on Peter when Jane wasn't forthcoming.

"She got stabbed. There was a lot of blood," Peter supplied helpfully.

Jane glared at Peter.

"You got _two_ fishhooks stuck in your thumb."

"What the hell, kid?" Stark demanded.

Peter was clearly embarrassed.

"Yes, do tell, little Spider," Loki said, smirking. He was absolutely loving this.

"I just, uh," Peter said, getting gradually redder. "They're really sharp, y'know?"

"And the second one?" Loki asked, amused. Peter just coughed and mumbled something unintelligible.

"He tried to get the first fishhook out with a second one," Jane said dryly.

Loki was the first to start laughing, low and quiet, but the rest soon joined in. Peter's face fell into a petulant pout.

"It should've worked!" he protested weakly.

He only caused another round of mirth to overtake them.

"Oh, little Spider," Loki said, teeth flashing, "never change."

* * *

You're welcome, ATLA fans ;)


	6. The Substitute Teacher

A/N: I guess it's time for my bi-annual update of this story, haha. Really, though, I am sorry for the wait. I thought I had this chapter planned out, but when it came to actually writing it, I hit a huge block. I let it sit for a while and then came back to the same block, so eventually I had to come up with a new plan for it. But here it is, at last! :)

* * *

Peter went to bed that night totally exhausted, and when he woke up, it was nearly time to leave. MJ and Ned had been up for hours, apparently, and done a whole bunch of exciting things.

"Dude, Sif let me hold her sword!" Ned told him, excitedly.

"You didn't tell me you'd met _Sleipnir_ ," MJ had hissed.

"Sorry?" Peter had said. He honestly hadn't known it was a big deal.

"It's fine," MJ sighed. "Turns out he's not Loki's kid, he just found him as a baby and raised him, or whatever."

"Loki's kid is a horse?" Ned squawked.

"No, you idiot, I just said he wasn't!"

"Uh, right."

"Are you ready to depart?" Loki's voice cut in smoothly from the doorway.

"No," Peter said, wishing he hadn't slept in that morning.

"I dare not risk the wrath of your aunt, Peter," Loki said, "so I must insist."

"Oh, yeah, she can get kinda scary sometimes."

Aunt May could be scarier than a supervillain, especially if he tried to talk to her in the morning before coffee.

"Sorry," Ned said as they got on the Commodore. "We did try to wake you up."

"It's alright," Peter said. He'd been tired, and he'd felt safe enough where he was to not be woken by his spidey sense. Besides, he'd probably needed the sleep.

Darcy was going back to Earth with them, too, but Loki dropped Peter and his friends off first.

When they landed on his apartment roof again, Peter turned to him, hands on his hips, trying his best confident-Spiderman pose.

"It's not gonna be months before I see you again, is it?"

"No," Loki said immediately. "No, definitely not. I must take Darcy home, and then I think you will see me very soon."

Peter suddenly wasn't sure he liked the look in Loki's eyes, but he didn't think there was anything he could do about it.

"Okay," he said. "Good."

He got out of the ship and stood with MJ and Ned to watch them leave. The ship rose about ten meters, hovered for a few moments, and then one of the side hatch doors opened.

Darcy's face popped out.

"Loki says this is for your aunt, Peter!"

She tossed something towards them, and Peter instinctively grabbed it in midair. It was a bottle of wine, although the label was decorated in strange symbols that must have been Asgardian.

He wondered how Loki had known that Aunt May liked wine, but the Commodore was rising quickly, long on its way to gone.

"You think your aunt will let us have some of that?"

Ned and Peter turned to look at MJ in unison.

"We're fifteen," Peter pointed out.

"I had some at the wedding," she shrugged. "It was good. Besides, I think the age limit on New Asgard is, like, five."

"Aw, I didn't even think of that," Ned complained.

MJ rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's get off the roof. We look like losers up here."

With that she turned and headed for the fire escape, leaving Ned and Peter to follow, which, of course, they did.

* * *

Peter hadn't expected to see Loki so soon, and he definitely hadn't expected to see him _here_.

Here being in his high school.

In his Psychology AP class.

Standing behind the teacher's desk with a clipboard.

Peter stopped in the doorway, and MJ and Ned ran right into his back.

"Dude, c'mon, what's the – Loki?" Ned whispered the last, but Loki heard him anyway, looking up quickly and shooting them a smirk.

"Please enter quickly and quietly, students, we have a lot to discuss today."

MJ looked absolutely delighted by this turn of events.

Peter made his way to his desk in a daze. What was Loki doing here?

There wasn't time to talk to him, however, because Peter always took his time to get to this class. They'd had a bunch of different subs for the last couple weeks because Mrs. Boureen was on maternity leave, and it had been really boring.

Somehow, Peter was sure AP Psych wouldn't be quite so boring as before.

"Good afternoon, children," Loki began, as soon as the bell had rung. "I am your substitute for the foreseeable future; you may call me Professor Friggason."

"Professor?" Flash asked belligerently. "What, have you got a Ph.D. or something?"

Loki raised an eyebrow, but didn't even bother looking at Flash when he responded.

"I have many degrees, Mr. Thompson, all of them in subjects you could not possibly comprehend at the moment, if ever. Now, are all the rest of you present and accounted for?"

The rest of the class, including Peter, were too distracted by Flash's embarrassed, angry face for a few moments.

MJ recovered first.

"We're all here, Professor Friggason."

"Excellent," Loki smiled at MJ, who, for the first time in, like, ever, looked really invested in a class.

"Now, there will be no foolish activities in this class, or time-wasting homework assignments; instead, we will be having discussions, and your level of engagement will determine your grade. Your mere presence in this class will not be enough, you must contribute in some way. Is that clear?"

Peter thought it was pretty clear, and it appeared the rest of the class was on board, too. Loki had just told them they wouldn't have homework or assignments, and all they had to do was talk in class. It sounded awesome.

"We will start with this scenario, then…"

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, nearly everyone groaned in disappointment.

"Until tomorrow, children," Loki said, dismissing them with a satisfied smile.

Peter, Ned, and MJ all hung around, waiting for the class to clear out.

"What're you doing teaching our class, Loki?" Peter asked, and then, realizing how that might sound, tried to backtrack a little. "I mean, it's really cool, but like, don't you have better things to do?"

"In fact, I do not, little Spider," Loki said, taking a seat behind the desk and propping his feet up on it. "New Asgard is constructed, and I trust the Lady Jane, at least, to run it well. I have no other obligations at the moment."

"So you came to teach our class?" Ned asked, bewildered. It was what Peter was wondering, too.

Loki just smiled and shrugged. "Are you not enjoying it?"

"Oh yes," MJ finally spoke up, "I thought our discussion today was _very_ interesting."

She sounded like she knew something Peter didn't, and he stared at her, as if that was going to tell him anything.

"I thought one of you would figure it out," Loki said, looking pleased.

"Figure out what?" Peter asked, exasperated.

"What did we talk about today?" MJ responded.

"Er, nature versus nurture?"

"No, we talked about two brothers, one who was adopted and didn't know it, and –"

"Oh!" Peter exclaimed. "You and Thor actually did all that stuff?"

Now that he thought about it, he really should have figured it out when Loki had started talking about a bilgesnipe hunt, but maybe he was just too used to weird stuff happening.

"Of course."

"Cool," Peter and Ned said at the same time, and then turned and gave each other fistbumps.

MJ rolled her eyes at them, but she was smiling a teeny tiny bit, so Peter knew she wasn't really irritated.

"What's on tomorrow's agenda?" she asked Loki.

"That would be telling, Miss Jones," he smirked. "Go on to your next class, you'll find out tomorrow."

He was right, they were going to be late if they didn't leave right away. They rushed out, MJ dragging her feet behind him and Ned.

"What do you think it'll be tomorrow?" she asked them.

"I dunno," Peter shrugged.

"More Asgardian stuff?" Ned suggested.

MJ huffed and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"Well, I hope it's serial killers."


End file.
